India was the second largest solar market in the world surpassing the United States in terms of solar capacity addition in the first half (1H) of 2018. While China added 24.3 GW of solar PV capacity in 1H of 2018, India added 4.9 GW in 1H 2018 and the United States added 4.7 GW of solar PV capacity.

The United States installed more capacity than India in the second quarter of 2018 with 2,273 MW in comparison to India’s 1,599 MW. This was a reversal compared to the first quarter of 2018, in which India installed over 3 GW in the quarter. In Q1, the United States installed 2,427 MW compared to India’s 3,344 MW, according to Mercom India Research.

The top three solar markets in the world – China, India, and the United States together installed a combined 33.9 GW. In Q1 2018, the three top solar markets accounted for 15.4 GW of solar PV capacity.

According to a recent report released by Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the United States installed 2.3 GW of solar PV, a 9 percent year-over-year (YoY) decrease and a 7 percent quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) decrease.

However, this trend is unlikely to continue as the project development pipeline in India is relatively weak going into the second half of the year as safeguard duty, module prices and policy uncertainties are expected to take a toll on installations.